//------------------------------// // Chapter 19 - Laying out the Cards // Story: One or the Other // by Blind Alley //------------------------------// Scootaloo sat on the top right corner of her bed, tucked into the corner of her room, all hunched up and miserable looking. Sweetie was settled on the opposite corner, listening raptly, and I'd taken Scoots' old desk chair and straddled it backwards next to her. “And when I woke up, I was…” she swallowed thickly. “I-- I panicked. I couldn't go outside looking like this. I wrote a note for Fluttershy and then you showed up about an hour and a half later.” “But…how?” Sweetie asked. “What kind of potion was it?” Scootaloo flared and folded her wings a few times before she finally took a deep, shaky breath. “It was a healing potion. I-- I messed myself up with my binder. It was too tight. Way, WAY too tight. Do you girls know about--? You have to be careful with binding. I was using some fabric bandages the first time I tried it and I really hurt myself. I thought that, since I was using a real binder, it wouldn't matter how tight it was. I wore one all the time, even when I was asleep until it hurt too much to do that anymore, and I guess I… stunted myself. Zecora's potion fixed that and…” She paused to swallow again. “I don't eat a lot, y'know, to keep my weight down. Like, when we have lunch, that's usually it for the day. I keep track of my calories so that I don't eat more than I can burn off. I guess that counted as 'stunting', too. “The really stupid thing is that I was binding so tight because my boobs were ugly, but they were only like that because I was binding so tight. I didn't even know that could happen!” “Why didn't ya tell us about all this before now?” I asked. “I get bein' embarrassed--” Scootaloo's face twisted like she tasted something sour. “No you don't. I mean, look at you! What does somepony like you have to be embarrassed about?” My ears laid back but I refused to look away. “My best friends sayin' stuff like that, fer one.” Scootaloo made a little 'hmph' and crossed her arms. Or tried to, anyhow. She had to adjust a few times, trying to figure out how to work around her new chest. “Besides, it ain't like yer THAT big, right Sweetie?” “Of course they--” Sweetie's eyes drifted down to Scootaloo's bust, almost hypnotized by watching her push and adjust herself and her shirt around. “I mean… they are… kinda…” “Sweetie Belle!” “Whua?” She tore her eyes off Scootaloo. “Sorry, what'd you say?” I smacked my palm into my forehead. “Yer not helpin'.” “Uuuugh! I hate these things!” Scootaloo shouted. Sweetie and I both watched her trying to give herself breathing room by tugging at her shirt. “They keep getting in the way and UGH! This is stupid!” “Scoots--” “Look at this! I just try to cross my arms and they get all squished up!” I shot a look at Sweetie but she was gone again. She had that sort of droopy eared, dreamy eyed look on her face like Spike used to get when he was little and following Rarity around. Meanwhile, her tail made slow, provocative sweeps side to side like Rarity's did when she was turning some stallion's head. So much for “gently”. Scoots groaned and slumped over on her side, still tucked into the corner. “Why couldn't I have just turned out like Rainbow Dash?” “What's Rainbow got ta do with it?” She pulled her knees up against her chest as far as she could. “She's the perfect pegasus. She's strong and fast and lean, like we're supposed to be.” Sweetie must've recovered from la-la land enough to follow our conversation again because she chimed back in, voice soft and serious. “Rarity told me about that. She says the models for her pegasus lines are practically starving themselves to stay thin. It's a really big problem for pegasai mares. She's been trying to find different models for years. It's part of why she wanted Fluttershy to model for her so much that one time, remember?” “That just ain't right. Why do y'all care about measurin' up to somethin' like that?” “Says the perfect earth pony,” Scootaloo grumbled. “So, y'all're upset 'cause pegasai ain't gonna think yer the hottest thing since dragon breath?” Scootaloo just curled up a little tighter, and I kicked myself for saying it like that while Sweetie shot me a dirty look. Scootaloo acts like such a tomcolt all the time that I always assume she just don't care about that sort of thing at all. Here she lets me know that she does care, and I go handling it like a yak in a china shop. I shifted uncomfortably, trying to think of a way to dig myself out of the hole my big mouth had dug me into. “I'm not a pegasus.” Scoots and I both turned our attention to Sweetie. She was picking at the hem of her skirt to avoid looking at either of us. “And I, uh, I still think you're pretty.” Sweetie had just thrown me a lifeline. “She ain't the only one.” Scootaloo sat up slowly, shooting me a suspicious look along the way. “I thought you don't like mares.” Well, outta the fryin' pan… I ran my left hand over my hair until I had a single lock twisted between my fingers. “I suppose now's as good a time as any ta talk about this.” I got off the chair, turned it around and sat down on it properly. “I've been thinkin' a lot since we all started this mess. I never even thought… I mean, I sorta-- I've been tryin' not to--” I heaved a sigh and let my head hang. “I always thought that might just go away if I ignored it long enough.” Sweetie winced. “I know the feeling.” “Me too,” Scootaloo said. I looked back and forth between them. “You do?” “Duh, of course we do!” Scoots rolled her eyes. “What, you think I was happy when I started wanting to jump you two all the time? You think Sweetie was excited to tell Rarity?” “I, uh, I haven't actually told Rarity. Or my parents. Or anypony. I don't know how they'll take it.” I thought about that for a second or two. I never really got to know Sweetie's folks all that well, but they'd always seemed like pretty open-minded ponies. Rarity I knew for sure was. “Rarity ain't gonna care. She'll make a fuss 'cause that's what she does, but she ain't gonna care. I bet Rainbow Dash don't care neither.” “Nah, she's cool with it. She, uh, caught me checking you girls out at the beach thing last summer. Plus my parents, Aunt Holiday, and Auntie Lofty were obviously cool with it when I told them last visit. So yeah, been there, done that.” “Not with my family ya haven't.” “What d'you… Oh.” Scoots grimaced. “Oh. Uh, are they, uh, not cool with…?” I took a deep, long breath and held it for a good long while before I let it out in one big sigh. “I dunno. Apples are a mite old fashioned, ya know? It's one thing to live and let live with other ponies and creatures, but when it comes ta family… Ain't never heard about an Apple bein'… y'know. Dunno if that's 'cause no Apple ever has or if they ain't Apples no more.” Sweetie and Scoots both let their ears droop. Scoots half opened her wings and ruffled them shut again. “Oh. Wow that-- that sucks, AB. I didn't know.” I scowled at her. “No, ya didn't.” Part of me wanted to push on that. After everything that'd gone wrong so far, I was feeling more than a little cranky. But she didn't know, and I couldn't see how she could have. I sighed again and let my scowl fade. “Ya didn't know, Scoots. Ain't your fault I'm… the way I am. Just made me face it.” Sweetie rocked herself side to side a bit like she was debating getting up. Guess she decided to stay put 'cause she just chewed her lip a little and looked back down at the bed. “Somethin' ya wanna say, Sweetie?” “I was just wondering… when did you figure it out?” I slumped back in my chair. When had I figured it out? Hay, HAD I really figured it out? It felt like I'd found two questions for every answer so far. “I dunno. I've been havin'… Y'know, it's been botherin' me for a long time. I just kept on ignoring it. I made up so many reasons why I kept lookin' 'n daydreamin' about you two. Reckon I just about believed 'em most days. All seems pretty stupid now. But, uh, last night I stayed over at Big Mac 'n Sugar Belle's place. I was feelin' too mixed up ta go home, all confused and, uh, well, in the shower I--” heat crept right up my face, “I tried ta see how I felt.” “Is this after we…?” “Yup. Oh, uh, Sweetie and I kinda made out when I brought her that food last night. Like how we did in the orchard?” Scootaloo sat up a little straighter, her eyes darting back and forth between us. “Including the, uh…?” I rolled my eyes. “Eeeyup. Seriously, first chance both of ya get, you go straight after my rump.” “Pft! You were all over mine!” “Mine too.” “Yeah, well, y'both made it seem fun enough.” Which it was. “That ain't the point. What me 'n you did had me all, uh, worked up, and I needed to know if it was-- if it was the real thing.” Sweetie shifted her weight from side to side anxiously. “So…?” “Well, uh, like I said, in the shower I tried, er, y'know, thinkin' about things. Y'know, to see if it'd, uh, 'do it' fer me.” Sweetie's eyes went wide. “Ohhh, you were--” I barreled right on over Sweetie as fast as I could. “So, I thought about you two. And, well, it… worked.” The heat in my face reached all the way up to my ears. “It worked really good.” They both stared at me, open mouthed, like I'd just turned into an alicorn. There had to be enough blood rushing into my head to flush me redder than one of Spike's rubies, right on up to the tips of my ears. “Don't y'all try 'n tell me y'ain't done the same darn thing!” Sweetie's ears laid back. “…Last night, after dinner.” “…Same.” My stomach did a little flip. “So, I reckon I, uh, like you. Uh, might just be you. I'm not sure. I didn't, uh, try with anypony else. See, I've never really been interested in, uh, anypony else. At all. But maybe that's 'cause I was always so hung up worryin' 'bout how I felt about you two that I, uh, it's all a mess in my head. I just-- I ain't a hundred percent sure what I am.” Scootaloo scratched the back of her head slowly. “I'm like ninety percent sure that I'm a hundred percent gay.” “I'm, uh, good either way,” Sweetie admitted. “And you both, y'know, still like me?” Scootaloo's voice was tentative, way more than usual. Like she was expecting a no. “Even though I've been a big jerk and, uh, look stupid?” “You look great,” Sweetie said earnestly. “But I'm a pegasus! We're not supposed to--” I hadn't realized just how tight the knot in my guts was until the conversation shifted off of me. Darned if it wasn't a relief though. Truth be told, I wasn't sure if I should feel bad for taking the focus off Scoots in the first place or sorry for giving it back. I wasn't about to listen to her tearing herself down though. “And we ain't pegasai. Us earth ponies 'n unicorns? We ain't got no problems with curves. Er, I mean, I don't think I do, anyhow. 'Sides,” I shot a sidelong look at Sweetie and her own wandering eyes. “Ya really gonna doubt Sweetie? She's been drooling over ya this whole time!” Sweetie went real pink, real fast. “I have not!” “Honestly, if I weren't here? I bet she'd be all over ya.” “No I wouldn't! I mean, not right now. She's upset! And I wouldn't do that behind your back! Um… again.” For a moment there things'd almost felt normal again, with us bickering and picking on each other. Any other day we would've kept on going until we got into one of our wresting matches. Wrestling matches that were starting to look a little different in hindsight. But Sweetie had just gone and brought us right back to the other night where this had all kicked off. “So…” Scoots started. I braced myself for the question I knew was coming next. Somepony had to ask it and, sooner or later, we were all gonna have to answer. “What're we gonna do now?”